Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based Director operating in the Impact Investing space. If you think a Director is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Andrew Crankshaw
Financial Director of Atomico
Based in London, Andrew has been the Finance Director at Atomico since 2008. He manages all aspects of Atomico’s fund operations and reporting, including as Compliance Officer and Money Laundering Reporting Officer. Andrew has 16 years of experience in the private equity and venture capital industries. Prior to joining Atomico, Andrew was employed as the Funds Controller for the British based private equity firm 3i plc where he worked within the Buyouts Division. Before this, Andrew worked at the Swedish private equity firm IK Investment Partners, looking after the fund administration and reporting for five buyout funds, and later assumed additional responsibility for the operational running, administration and board membership of the fund’s many Luxembourg-based holding companies. Andrew is a qualified Chartered Certified Accountant, has a BA Honours degree in Accountancy from Birmingham City University, is fully authorised and regulated by the FCA in the UK, and is a member of the Securities Institute by virtue of holding the Investment Administration Qualification. Andrew is a keen skier, cyclist and former rugby player. He recently cycled 400km from London to Paris and really misses the camaraderie of playing rugby, but not the broken bones that comes with it.
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About Atomico: Atomico is an international investment firm that focuses on helping disruptive technology companies scale globally.
John Tang
Managing Director, Head of EMEA, Cerberus Technology Solutions of Cerberus Capital Management
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About Cerberus Capital Management: Cerberus Capital Management is a private investment firm that focuses on operational private equity investments.
Nestor Paz Galindo
Managing Director of UBS
Nestor Paz Galindo as managing director and head of sell-side and financial sponsors M&A for EMEA. Paz Galindo will join the bank from JP Morgan in March next year. Paz Galindo has spent all of his professional career to date at JP Morgan. He has held a range of M&A-related roles over 22 years, most recently including managing director of the bank’s European financial sponsors group.
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About UBS: UBS is a global financial services company that engages in the provision of financial management solutions.
Marc Wursdorfer
Managing Director of UBS
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About UBS: UBS is a global financial services company that engages in the provision of financial management solutions.
Anthony Forshaw
Managing Director, Capital Markets Group of Houlihan Lokey
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About Houlihan Lokey: Houlihan Lokey is a global investment bank that focuses on capital markets, financial restructuring, valuation, and strategic consulting.
Sandy Purcell
Senior Managing Director of Houlihan Lokey
Sandy Purcell is the Board Member at AudioEye.
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About Houlihan Lokey: Houlihan Lokey is a global investment bank that focuses on capital markets, financial restructuring, valuation, and strategic consulting.
Ann Sharkey
Managing Director of Houlihan Lokey
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About Houlihan Lokey: Houlihan Lokey is a global investment bank that focuses on capital markets, financial restructuring, valuation, and strategic consulting.
Pauline Cassie
Investor Relations Director of Par Equity
Pauline Cassie is the Investor Relations Director at Par Equity.
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About Par Equity: Par Equity is a leading, early-stage venture capital firm, investing in innovative, high growth technology companies.
Charles Miller-Jones
Managing Director, London of OMERS Private Equity
Charles is a Managing Director in the London office of OMERS Private Equity, having joined the team in September 2017. He is part of the investment team focusing on direct investments in Europe. He was involved in the acquisition of Alexander Mann Solutions in 2018, and is now a non-executive board director with that asset. Before joining OMERS, Charles spent 12 years at Cinven, where he was involved in a range of private equity transactions and investments, including Smurfit Kappa, PizzaExpress, Gala Coral, CPA Global and Kurt Geiger. Charles has an MA (Cantab) in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University.
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About OMERS Private Equity: OMERS Private Equity has been making private equity investments for OMERS, one of Canada’s largest plans with in excess of $50 billion of
Orla Ralston
Managing Director, Investment Tax, London of OMERS Private Equity
Orla is Managing Director, Investment Tax in the London office, advising the Infrastructure and Private Equity investment teams in relation to the tax and structuring aspects of their transactions across Europe. Orla joined OMERS in July 2016. Prior to joining OMERS, Orla spent 11 years at Goldman Sachs, working alongside the Merchant Banking Division on their European investments in real estate, infrastructure, debt and equity. Orla was previously a tax associate at Slaughter and May, from 1998 until 2005. Orla holds a joint honours degree (LLB) in Law & Accountancy from Queen’s University Belfast and is qualified as a solicitor in Northern Ireland, and in England and Wales.
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About OMERS Private Equity: OMERS Private Equity has been making private equity investments for OMERS, one of Canada’s largest plans with in excess of $50 billion of
Isabelle Pagnotta
Managing Director, London of OMERS Private Equity
Isabelle is Managing Director at OMERS Private Equity Europe, based in London. She leads sourcing, execution and portfolio management of private equity investments in Europe, and is responsible for the origination of deals in France. Since joining in 2012, Isabelle has been involved in OMERS Private Equity’s investments in V. Group, Civica, ERM and Trescal, and has served as Director of Civica and Trescal. Before joining OMERS Private Equity, Isabelle worked at Bridgepoint for four years, and Arcapita for six years, where she assessed and invested in businesses across a range of sectors in both the U.K. and France. Isabelle received a Master’s in Management and a Diplome de Grande Ecole, both from ESCP Europe.
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About OMERS Private Equity: OMERS Private Equity has been making private equity investments for OMERS, one of Canada’s largest plans with in excess of $50 billion of
Jonathan Mussellwhite
Senior Managing Director and Head of Europe of OMERS Private Equity
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About OMERS Private Equity: OMERS Private Equity has been making private equity investments for OMERS, one of Canada’s largest plans with in excess of $50 billion of
Matt Baird
Managing Director, Operations & Strategy, London of OMERS Private Equity
Matt is Managing Director, Operations & Strategy for OMERS Private Equity in Europe, having joined in April 2017. He works with the management teams leading OMERS portfolio companies to help them generate maximum value through the lifetime of the investment. Matt brings over 20 years’ experience working with and supporting senior executives in PE-backed businesses to deliver results. Prior to joining OMERS, he was a Managing Director in Alvarez & Marsal’s Private Equity Performance Improvement practice, where his work included serving in interim CFO/COO roles in client businesses as well as advising management teams. Prior to this, he was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. He started his career with Arthur Andersen. Matt holds a Masters in Engineering, Economics & Management from Oxford University and is a Chartered Accountant.
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About OMERS Private Equity: OMERS Private Equity has been making private equity investments for OMERS, one of Canada’s largest plans with in excess of $50 billion of
Philip Keller
Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of Intermediate Capital Group
Prior to ICG, Philip was Finance Director of ERM, a global environmental consultancy, where he was part of a management team that led two leveraged buyouts in 2001 and 2005. He previously held a number of financial directorships at GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson. He is a Chartered Accountant and graduate of Durham University. Member of plc Board, Investment and Executive Committees. Responsible for finance, human resources and operations.
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About Intermediate Capital Group: ICG is a specialist asset manager in private debt, credit and equity.
Eimear Palmer
Managing Director, Head of Responsible Investing of Intermediate Capital Group
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About Intermediate Capital Group: ICG is a specialist asset manager in private debt, credit and equity.
Luigi Bartone
Managing Director of Intermediate Capital Group
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About Intermediate Capital Group: ICG is a specialist asset manager in private debt, credit and equity.
Henry Wigan
Founder & Director of Investment of Mustard Seed
Henry is Co-Founder and Director of Investment at Mustard Seed. Henry is a frequent panelist on impact investing; Google Campus, Imperial, INSEAD, IESE, LBS, Oxford Skoll Centre, amongst others. Henry was formerly a Director and Portfolio Manager at BlackRock in London, having started his career at Goldman Sachs. Henry is a recipient of the Goldman Sachs Global Leadership scholarship for social entrepreneurship. Henry has a First Class Honours degree from London School of Economics in Economics and Economic History, and has authored a private paper on Impact Investing in Frontier Markets. Mustard Seed seeks to enable the creation of world-class businesses that generate positive and sustainable outcomes in the areas of economic inclusion, education, environmental sustainability, health, and family and the community.
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About MSM, Mustard Seed: Mustard Seed invests in world-class early-stage businesses that seek to generate compelling financial and societal returns.
Alexander Pitt
Co-Founder & Director of Growth of Mustard Seed
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About MSM, Mustard Seed: Mustard Seed invests in world-class early-stage businesses that seek to generate compelling financial and societal returns.
Alex Stirling
Senior Managing Director of Centerbridge Partners LP
Alex joined Centerbridge in 2017 and is responsible for private equity investments across Europe. Prior to joining Centerbridge, Alex spent 17 years working in private equity. Most recently he was a Managing Director at the Carlyle Group in the European Buyout team, advising on business services and consumer sectors in UK and Northern Europe. Previously, Alex worked as an Investment Director with Texas Pacific Group and Apax Partners. Alex began his career with Bain & Company where he advised corporate and Private Equity Clients on strategy, restructuring and M&A across Europe.
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About Centerbridge Partners LP: Centerbridge Partners, L.P. is a private investment firm with offices in New York and London.
Finula Cilliers
Managing Director of Evercore Partners
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About Evercore Partners: Evercore Partners is a New York-based investment banking firm that advises its clients on M&A, divestitures, and more.
Rodney Reid
Managing Director of Evercore Partners
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About Evercore Partners: Evercore Partners is a New York-based investment banking firm that advises its clients on M&A, divestitures, and more.
Lea Lazaric Calvert
Managing Director of Evercore Partners
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About Evercore Partners: Evercore Partners is a New York-based investment banking firm that advises its clients on M&A, divestitures, and more.
Olivier Berment
Head of Global Debt Fund – Managing Director of Ardian
Olivier has 18 years of private equity experience including 13 years with Ardian. He began his career in 1996 as a junior investment manager in a private company, specializing in recovery investments. Olivier was also involved in M&A transactions and advised companies with respect to their IPOs. In 1999, he joined Renaissance Investissements, an investment fund specializing in turnaround situations. He joined Ardian in early 2001 where he was in charge of turnaround activities and also completed some direct transactions. He joined the Private Debt team at its inception in 2005.
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About Ardian: Ardian is an independent private investment company with assets of US$55bn managed or advised.
Serge Koniski
Director of Northleaf Capital Partners
Serge participates in all aspects of Northleaf’s private markets investment activities, with a focus on the origination, evaluation and monitoring of private equity secondary investments. Prior to joining Northleaf in 2012, Serge was an Associate with the Energy and Power investment banking team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London. Previously, Serge worked in the Emerging Markets investment banking division at Citigroup in London, where he focused on transactions across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Serge received a Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Engineering) from McGill University and an M.Sc. in Business Administration from HEC School of Management in Paris.
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About Northleaf Capital Partners: Northleaf Capital Partners is private equity firm that manages pension plans, endowments, foundations, financial institutions accounts.
Sophia Damianou
Managing Director of Northleaf Capital Partners
Sophia is responsible for Northleaf’s business development activities in Europe, working closely with existing and prospective investors and investment consultants to design, develop and monitor their private markets portfolios. Prior to joining Northleaf in 2019, Sophia was Director of Marketing at CapeView Capital where she had global sales coverage responsibility across all of CapeView’s products. Previously, Sophia was Vice President – EMEA Business Development for Mesirow Financial International where she was responsible for business development strategy for new markets in the EMEA region. Sophia began her career as an Associate on the Capital Introductions team at Credit Suisse. Sophia holds a B.Sc. from University College London, an M.Sc., Law and Economics, from the London School of Economics and an MBA, Finance from Columbia Business School.
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About Northleaf Capital Partners: Northleaf Capital Partners is private equity firm that manages pension plans, endowments, foundations, financial institutions accounts.
David Ross
Managing Director of Northleaf Capital Partners
David is head of Northleaf’s private credit program and a member of the Investment Committees for Northleaf’s private credit and private equity programs. He oversees all aspects of Northleaf’s private credit investment activities, with a focus on the origination, evaluation and monitoring of private credit investments globally. In addition, he is involved in Northleaf’s investor relations and business development activities. Prior to joining Northleaf, David was at Bain Capital Credit, a leading global credit specialist, as a Managing Director, Global Head of Sourcing and a member of Bain Capital’s Opportunistic Credit and Private Credit team. Previously, David served as the Co-Head of Bain Capital Credit’s London office from 2009 to 2013. David began his career with Credit Suisse First Boston in Investment Banking before joining Bain Capital Credit in 2003. David received a B.A. from Harvard College.
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About Northleaf Capital Partners: Northleaf Capital Partners is private equity firm that manages pension plans, endowments, foundations, financial institutions accounts.
Roderick Gadsby
Managing Director of Northleaf Capital Partners
Roderick leads Northleaf’s infrastructure investment activities in the UK and Europe, with a focus on transaction origination, due diligence, execution and asset management. Prior to joining Northleaf in 2018, Roderick held senior-level infrastructure investment and advisory roles at institutions such as UBS Investment Bank, Macquarie Group and Barclays Capital, and was most recently a Partner at Stormharbour LLP. With more than 20 years of corporate finance and principal investing experience in the UK and Europe, Roderick has led the origination, execution and financing of infrastructure and other real assets. In addition, Roderick has served on the corporate boards of several privately-held companies. Roderick received a Masters in Business Administration from London Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of British Columbia.
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About Northleaf Capital Partners: Northleaf Capital Partners is private equity firm that manages pension plans, endowments, foundations, financial institutions accounts.
Daniel Dupont
Managing Director of Northleaf Capital Partners
Daniel manages Northleaf’s London office and is a member of the Investment Committee for Northleaf’s private equity program. Daniel oversees the origination, evaluation and monitoring of Northleaf’s private equity investments, with a focus on secondary investments. In addition, Daniel is involved in Northleaf’s investor relations and business development activities. Prior to joining Northleaf in 2011, Daniel spent more than a decade at Coller Capital, a leading private equity firm focused on secondary market transactions, where he was responsible for deal sourcing and investment execution for primary and secondary private equity investments, as well as business development activities globally. Previously, Daniel held senior positions in the private equity group at the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec and in the International and Treasury Divisions at the National Bank of Canada. Daniel has served on various fund advisory boards in Europe, Asia and Canada, and is a guest lecturer in the Masters program at INSEAD. Daniel received a B.B.A. and an M.B.A. in International Finance from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC Montréal) and holds the Chartered Professional Accountant designation.
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About Northleaf Capital Partners: Northleaf Capital Partners is private equity firm that manages pension plans, endowments, foundations, financial institutions accounts.
Matthieu Ducharme
Managing Director of Northleaf Capital Partners
Matthieu participates in all aspects of Northleaf’s private equity investment activities, with a focus on the origination, evaluation and monitoring of secondary investments. Prior to joining Northleaf in 2013, Matthieu was a partner at PEFOX, a private equity secondaries and derivatives broker in Paris. Previously, Matthieu worked with Pantheon Ventures’ secondaries team in London where he was responsible for the sourcing, evaluation and negotiation of portfolio, fund and direct secondary transactions. Matthieu began his career with an expansion capital fund sponsored by Société Générale Asset Management in Paris. Matthieu received an M.Sc. in Financial Engineering from the Sorbonne University and a B.Sc. in Management Science & Finance from Dauphine University in Paris.
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About Northleaf Capital Partners: Northleaf Capital Partners is private equity firm that manages pension plans, endowments, foundations, financial institutions accounts.
Richard Lewis
Investment Director of Downing Ventures
Richard joined Downing in January 2017 where he focusses on supporting businesses seeking growth capital. Richard has 15 years’ venture capital and private equity experience. He started his career at Manchester-based North West Equity Fund, working within a team to complete 30 investments over a five-year period. He then moved to London and spent nine years at Mitsui & Co, completing growth and venture capital investments in the UK, USA and Israel. Prior to joining Downing, Richard worked at Radius Equity as the Head of Investment. Richard has an MBA from Manchester Business School.
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About Downing Ventures: Downing Ventures, a division of Downing LLP, invests venture capital into early and growth stage technology businesses.
Ozgur Tuncer
CEO & Executive Director of Stablepharma Ltd
Ozgur Tuncer CEO & Executive Director – two decades of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry including working for blue chip companies such as Pfizer, IQVIA and Pharmacia. Most recently, he was Global Vice President in IQVIA, and strategic adviser to life sciences investors. In addition to his role in Stablepharma, Özgür is an Investment Partner with Ascension Ventures.
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About Stablepharma Ltd: An innovative Biotech, developing a wide range of reformulated thermostable and fridge free StablevaX vaccines
